Fox Huntsman of Beacon Academy
by Rave Rose of Twilight
Summary: Replacement for Beacon Academy's Fox Hunter. This is a story about the trials and tribulations Naruto went through to become the Huntsman that he was destined to be. Faced with racism, new foes, and strange friends, Naruto Uzumaki will rise to the occasion or crack under the pressure. Read and review please.
1. Chapter 1

**Fox Huntsman of Beacon Academy**

 **Written By: Rave Rose of Twilight**

 **Warning: I don't own Naruto or RWBY.**

 **AUTHOR'S NOTE: After a bit of thought, I've decided to rework this story. Flesh out some ideas and not get everything directly from the Anime. To Fairy Tail Dragon Slayer: Thank you. I see what you meant now and I agree with you. I wish I had done this story the way I had been doing my other stories where I give Naruto a unique background.**

Chapter One: A Day in the Life of Naruto Uzumaki

"Naruto," called an elderly, yet powerful voice. "It's time for lunch!"

It was a beautiful day in Vacuo. The sun was hanging high in the sky with a few clouds drifting through the sky. Deep in the woods of Vacuo was a small village known as Konoha. From behind one of the trees, a young boy with bright blond spiky hair and azure blue eyes popped out from his hiding spot. He bore a set of whisker-like birthmark on his cheeks, something that was rare for a child like him.

"COMING, GRANDPA," the young boy called back, causing some of the other kids hiding to groan. Several students popped out of their hiding spots. "Sorry. I gotta go."

"It's cool, Naruto," called a young boy around his age with brown hair and brown eyes. On his shoulder, a small white puppy barked in response. "It's know, Akamaru, but we'll get a chance to beat him in Hide and Go Seek later."

"You wish, Kiba," Naruto threw back with a laugh. "Nobody can beat me in Hide and Go Seek. I'm the best hider and seeker in the village!"

"Oh yeah," challenged Kiba, puffing out his chest in pride. "Mom said she's planning on getting me started on training so I can get into a good Combat School and become the best Huntsman Konoha's ever seen."

"Yeah right, Kibble Breath," called a pink-haired girl and emerald green eyes. "If anyone has a chance at being the best Huntsman, it's Sasuke-kun!"

Kiba snorted. "Whatever," he called back. "Naruto has a better chance than that brooding prick and Naruto's an idiot!"

"Watch it, Kiba," Naruto warned, his slitted blue eyes narrowing slightly. "I can still kick your butt in a scrap!"

"Yeah right," Sakura shouted angrily. "As if that Mutt could make it into a Combat School!"

Everyone's eyes were wide and more than a few kids looked downright furious. Naruto looked ready to burst into tears before he darted off out of the forest. Kiba, however, looked downright livid and almost lunged at the girl before a shadow snaked out and connected to his.

"LET GO OF ME, SHIKAMARU," Kiba shouted to the black-haired kid with a lazy look in his eyes standing beside him.

"I can't do that, Kiba," the boy said. "If I do, we both know that you'll be the one in trouble." Shikamaru turned to Sakura and leveled a glare her way. "As for you, Haruno, I would kindly suggest you go home. I might have been able to stop Kiba, but my Semblance won't affect more people. Also, don't bother coming to play with us until you apologize to Naruto."

"Why should I," Sakura demanded. "Everyone knows that's what he is. My mommy even said so."

At this, Kiba began to fight and his body began to move toward Sakura, stunning her since nobody had ever moved once Shikamaru caught someone with his Semblance.

"I don't know how much longer I can hold him back if you keep antagonizing him," Shikamaru shouted angrily. "So unless you would like to see how it feels to get beat up, I'd suggest you leave. NOW!"

Sakura needed no further motivation and ran home before the volatile boy could assault her. Once Sakura was clear, Shikamaru released Kiba from his Semblance, causing him to throw himself toward a tree and slam his fist into it, creating a mildly deep indentation.

"How long have we all been friends, Shikamaru," Kiba asked forcefully. "I mean, half of us are Faunus! She should know better than to call anyone that word!"

"Breathe, Kiba," Shikamaru stated as he placed a hand on his friend's shoulder. "If she knew exactly what she had said, I doubt she would have."

"Do you really believe that nonsense," Kiba asked. "Nobody cares that Naruto's mom was a Faunus and that his dad was a human. Nobody except those racist Uchihas and Haruno's racist mother. And now, she's poisoning Sakura with her own racism."

Shikamaru sighed, but he knew that Kiba was speaking the truth. A year ago, Sakura was just another kid in the village and Naruto had a huge crush on her. Now, she's become just another racist, taking up her mother's vile views in hopes that she would marry Sasuke Uchiha, making their family very wealthy.

"Man, I hope Naruto's alright," Kiba said before their small group dispersed to their own homes.

Meanwhile….

As Naruto raced through the village, tears in his eyes, he collided into his grandfather, a man by the name of Hiruzen Sarutobi. The six-year-old Fox Faunus buried his face in his grandpa's shirt and began to cry. The old human rubbed the weeping boy's back before bringing them inside and shutting the door behind them.

"What's wrong, Naruto," he asked softly.

Naruto sniffled before looking up at the wrinkled face of his grandfather. "Grandpa," he started, still sobbing, but slowly reigning it in. "Am I a….Mutt?"

"No, Naruto," he said soothingly, his warm, gravelly voice easing the elderly man's subtle rage that someone would even utter that foul, racist word to such a sweet, innocent boy like his grandson. "There are some...misguided people in this world. People who think that they are better than others just because they look different. Instead of seeing what similarities we share, they only see what makes us different and that will only breed Fear. And where Fear is bred, Hatred will fester in the hearts of those who fear others for being different. And where Hatred festers, only blood, sadness, and war will be found."

"When a man kills another, the friends and family of the one who was killed will become angry and seek revenge. When they kill the killer of their friend, then the killers friends and family will seek revenge. And just like that, the endless Cycle of Hatred is born again," he continued. "But, there are those out there who seek to bring forth peace and end the Cycle of Hatred. People with kind hearts with an endless capacity for love, bodies so strong that they can take on the burdens of their friends, and a will so strong that nothing can stand in their way. The Will of Fire. When your parents passed, they gave you their Will of Fire. I know it hurts right now, to hear one of your friends say something like that to you, but I believe that you will overcome this pain and become the kind of man your parents knew you would become."

Naruto smiled, wiping away the tears and the small bit of snot that dribbled down his nose with his sleeve. "So what do you say," the elderly man asked. "How about after lunch, we'll head to the Higurashi Armory and see about getting you some gear. Can't start training without the proper gear, right?"

Naruto nodded and gave a toothy smile to the man. "I love you, Grandpa," he said softly.

"I love you too, Naruto," he said, his words warming the heart of his grandson.

After a lunch consisting of barbecue beef ramen, the two headed to the local armory where Huntsmen and Huntresses on missions would go to have their weapons repaired while they were out on a mission. It was run by a kind man by the name of Thanos Higurashi, a retired Huntsman who had been crippled by a Grimm that caught him off guard when he was arresting a human for smuggling Dust from a shop. When the bell hanging above the door rang, a buff man with salt and pepper hair looked up and smiled. "Hiruzen, my old friend," he called as Hiruzen and Naruto walked into the store. Naruto looked around and saw dozens of weapons of all shapes and sizes hanging on hooks on every wall. "What brings you here? Need that rusty old Enma of yours fixed up?"

"Not today, Thanos," the aged man stated. "Today, I think I'm going to start Naruto on his training. He wants to be a Huntsman like his parents."

The man nodded and pulled out a beginner's repair and maintenance kit, a roll of measuring tape, and a set of books, which made Naruto frown slightly since he didn't like reading very much, and set them on the tabletop. He looked down at Naruto, who looked slightly intimidated by the man's appearance, and smiled, immediately disarming the young boy and getting him a smile in return.

"Alright, Naruto," he said as he walked over to him with a limp in his step. "So, which hand is your strong hand?"

Naruto held out his right hand and allowed him to take all kinds of odd measurements of his arm. What did he know about how and when the measured distance from his fingertip to the tip of his nose would be useful? The man scribbled down some notes before nodding to himself, happy with the results.

"Alright, Naruto," he said happily. "Just a few more tests and we can go and find you a practice weapon that will suit you. Of course, once you finish your training, you'll have to come by and forge your own weapon."

"I understand, Old Man," he called back with a smile. The man just laughed it off. Naruto was definitely her child.

"Follow me, kid," he said before hobbling toward the back room where his daughter, Tenten, was home schooled in the art of Forging. Naruto sat down at a small desk while the smith grabbed a pen and paper, placing them in front of him.

The paper was a basic personality test that would help him determine what weapons would best suit Naruto for training purposes. "When I say so, you'll write down your honest answer on each question. Don't answer what you think I want to know, but how you genuinely feel. If you don't, then your training won't suit your personality and you could get stuck with a weapon you can't use very well." Naruto nodded, like the eager student he was, and picked up the pen. "Begin."

As Naruto read through each question carefully, he wrote down his answers. After fifteen minutes, Naruto put his pen down and grinned. "Done!"

The man grabbed the paper and read through it, looking between it and Naruto occasionally to see if Naruto had lied, but found no traces of deception.

"Alright. Let me head back and grab a few things and you can choose your weapons," he said, causing Naruto some mild confusion.

"Weapons," he asked. "I thought I was only getting one weapon."

"Well, traditionally, weapons forged by and for Huntsmen and Huntresses are dual functioning. A melee form and a ranged form. This is usually to give Hunters a way of balancing out their skills and giving the wielder the option to retreat and provide ranged support to your teammates."

Naruto nodded his head eagerly while the smith went into the back to find a few weapons to help the young boy train to be a Huntsman. He grabbed one that was a gunblade-style weapon that looked like a one-handed sword and shifted into a rifle. Blunted and loadable with only paint rounds that acted like real bullets. The second was a two-handed warhammer that changed into a hefty shotgun. Again, loadable only with paint rounds. The third were a pair of knuckle dusters with a knife blade on one end that changed into twin pistols. Blunted and loadable only with paint rounds.

He brought all three weapons and laid them on the table for Naruto to inspect. The first one Naruto grabbed were the knuckle dusters. He placed them on his hands after being shown how. While a bit big, it could easily be modified to fit his hand and size. He liked the feel of them in his hands. Admittedly, he got into a few friendly scraps with Kiba and he knew he was a brawler, using punches more than kicks. If he could learn how to fight well rather than just a street brawler,it would be worth considering. When shown how, he then transformed them into their pistol forms. He aimed to a bare wall and pulled the trigger. The recoil nearly caused him to hit his head...twice. If they were real rounds with full powder loads, he would definitely be feeling the headache. Of course, as he got older and more used to the recoil, it would be a viable option.

He set them down and picked up the sword. It was definitely heavier than the knuckle dusters, but it looked really sleek with a greater reach. He gave a practice slash with it and was surprised that it felt to easy to do, but he knew it looked clumsy. The sword was far too large for him to wield properly at his current size and he'd likely need a bokken to practice with to get used to the motions and learn a style to suit him. With a little help, the sword transformed into a sleek rifle. He held it to his shoulder and fired a practice round. The recoil, thankfully, was not as powerful as the handgun, though that may have to do with the fact that it was easier to handle using one hand to stabilize it. He set that down and tried to pick up the warhammer. He actually had to use a lot of effort just to lift it, stunning the two older men in the room. He would have swung it, but he had the feeling that he would end up hurting himself if he did. It shifted into the shotgun form and, similarly to the hammer form, it was so heavy it would have hurt just to fire it, much less hold it.

Thanos took the weapon from him and set it back in the back room. There was no way he was going to give the tiny boy that thing as an option. He would never be able to train with it until he got much older and by then, he'd be in a Combat School.

"So, kid," Thanos asked. "Which one is it?"

Naruto put a hand on his chin as he closely inspected each weapon. "I choose…."

 **To Be Continued…**

 **Author's Note 2: Thank you for reading this. I am leaving this choice up to you. His Knuckle Dusters will be like Asuma's from Naruto, but will turn into .45 Pistols once he's been fully trained. His Gunblade won't be like Leon's like the one in the other fiction that this one replaces. Instead, it will be like Lightning's Gunblade and will have various elemental Dust Rounds. I haven't thought about his Semblance, but I did really like the one BonesBoy14 and Engineer4Ever gave him in their joint fiction, Veritas Aequitas and the reading version. Both of which I would highly suggest reading. They are both incredible authors with amazing fictions. If you have suggestions for his Semblance, let me know in the reviews. I will, after the second chapter of this story, be deleting my other story, Beacon Academy's Fox Hunter. Once again, thank you for supporting me and giving me honest reviews with helpful suggestions. I appreciate it.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Fox Huntsman of Beacon Academy**

 **Written By: Rave Rose of Twilight**

 **Warning: I don't own RWBY OR Naruto.**

 **Author's Note: Once again, thank you. With all of the reviews and PMs coming in, I've been tallying up the votes. It was close, but Naruto's weapon...is the Knuckle Dusters! It was a narrow margin. Literally! One vote sealed the deal! Now, Naruto won't be getting his Semblance for a few more chapters, so keep writing in with suggestions. I'll post an Author's Note in two more chapters with a list of your suggested Semblances and what I planned on doing with them and you will vote, via Review, for your favorite. The winner will be revealed when Naruto unlocks his Semblance. Naruto's aura will have some healing** **capabilities. Nothing radical like his healing factor in Naruto, but it will make him a tougher opponent to face off against. As for the Uchiha being racist, they are an old family that had taken part in the war between Faunus and Humans. When the Faunus War was won by the Faunus, the Uchiha had held the grudge for ages, passing it down to the next generation. Sakura Haruno's mother is similar, passing it down to an impressionable girl who was already head over heels for Sasuke and saying that he would never willingly be with anyone who supported or befriended Faunus. For her mother, she wants Sakura to marry into the Uchiha for their wealth, but Sakura herself genuinely has a crush on him and, much like in Naruto canon, would defend him even if he was wrong. I also know that my chapters are shorter, but that is for a reason. I am not going to go through my phone on a 5k+ word document and correct everything. When my computer is up and running, I'll bring back longer chapters. Till then, I do what I can.**

Chapter Two: Training Day

"I choose the Knuckle Dusters," he replied, getting a beaming smile from Thanos and Hiruzen. It fit his profile and his mindset. Naruto was a brash youth, prone to getting into fights with his friends, but those were kiddie scraps. Naruto always made up for his brash personality with a kind and caring heart that caused others to befriend him easily enough.

"Alright, kid," Thanos replied. "I'll get these babies modified so you can train with them. Till then, I'd start reading those books." Naruto groaned, causing Hiruzen to cuff him upside the head as Thanos went back to modify the weapon.

"Now don't give me any of that," Hiruzen said. "Readings good for you, Naruto. Why...if I didn't read books similar to the ones you're about to get, I wouldn't have been as good of a Huntsman as I was. And I certainly wouldn't have ever been able to become the leader of this village."

Naruto looked down and rubbed the back of his head. "Sorry, Grandpa," he muttered.

"I know you, Naruto," Hiruzen said with a smile. "Always eager to get into the fray of things, but you will learn that if you just charge into the middle of a fight, you're going to get hurt and I never want to see you hurt like that. So promise me. Promise me you'll pay attention in your studies."

"I promise," Naruto said with a smile. He loved making promises.

"And remember," the elderly man said, "that a real man never goes back on his promises, so don't go making promises all willy-nilly because sometimes you'll make a promise that you won't be able to keep if you do."

"I know, Grandpa," Naruto said cheekily. "It's not like I'm going to promise to bring some runaway prick back after he almost got my friends hurt or even killed."

Hiruzen sighed. "Why, of everything you inherited from your parents, did you have to inherit your mother's cheek?"

"I wish I had gotten mom's red hair, but I suppose dad's wild blond hair isn't that bad," Naruto replied.

Hiruzen laughed and ruffled Naruto's hair, revealing a pair of blond fox ears atop his head. Hiruzen was actually mildly thankful that Naruto had inherited his father's hair. It made his other ears much harder to spot and less likely someone other than a Faunus would notice he was a Faunus. That meant that he wasn't as susceptible to bullying from racists. He already got enough grief from the Uchiha family, a group of racists who owned numerous Dust shops across Remnant and outright banned Faunus from purchasing their supplies or charged them five times the actual cost.

"Naruto, I'm going to go out to make a couple of quick calls," Hiruzen stated. "Think I can leave you here without you causing a ruckus?" Naruto nodded eagerly.

The older man stepped outside and pulled out his Scroll. He dialed up a number and pressed connect. The Scroll rang a couple of times before a younger man picked up.

He had massive black eyebrows with black hair cut in a bowl cut style. His face was angular, free of a large majority of the baby fat that some people still carried. "Yosh! How can I help you, Hiruzen? I am training to stay in the Springtime of Youth as we speak!"

"Hello to you too, Guy," Hiruzen stated. "Naruto has decided to start training to become a Huntsman and his weapon of choice are Knuckle Dusters, much like Asuma's. I was wondering…."

"No need to finish, Elder Hiruzen," cried Guy, shedding tears. "You wish for me to help young Naruto reach his Springtime of Youth and unleash his Flames of Youth! Such a youthful spirit wishing to join the ranks of the Hunters of Remnant, truly he is his parents' son! I shall hurry so that we may train as soon as possible! If I do not get there in twenty minutes, I'll run around Vacuo with a one ton boulder strapped to my back!"

"Thank you, Guy," Hiruzen finished before hanging up. If there was one Huntsman who knew how to train someone like Naruto, it was Guy. He trained many of Vacuo's new generation, though only one stuck out. A young boy who was orphaned after a White Fang attack. He grew up admiring Guy's dedication to his training and began to do everything he did. When Guy found out, he was so flattered that he agreed to take him on as his apprentice. While strange for a Huntsman to take on an apprentice, it wasn't unheard of. Once he finished his apprenticeship under Guy, he was allowed to join Haven Academy.

"Grandpa," cried Naruto as he ran out of the Armory. Hiruzen looked and saw Naruto throwing sloppy shadow punches with his new training weapons. "Look at me! I'm a Huntsman!"

Hiruzen laughed at the enthusiasm the young boy showed to begin his training. Now if only he had this kind of enthusiasm toward his education, but he supposed that it was too much to ask his father's genes to overpower some of his mother's genes.

Within a matter of minutes, the two saw a dust cloud on the horizon and getting closer with each passing moment. Within seconds, the dust cloud could be seen and in front of it was a strange man running on his hands wearing a green skintight suit. The man pushed off of the ground with his hands and flipped before sticking the landing in front of the two.

"Yosh," Guy called before looking down at Naruto with a smile. "So this is my youthful new student! I'll soon ignite your Flames of Youth into a raging inferno!"

"Naruto, this is a good friend of mine," Hiruzen exclaimed. "Guy is an experienced Huntsman who has trained his body to the peak of physical conditioning. He is a close combat master, easily capable of killing Grimm without a weapon."

Naruto's eyes widened. "Indeed, Naruto. Why...I remember when I had to fight a Deathstalker with my bare hands! It put up a good fight, but it couldn't handle my Flames of Youth!"

Without warning, Guy's hands ignited with an azure flame. When Guy noticed this, the azure flames died down until they disappeared completely. "Sorry, my youthful student," he said with a grin. "Sometimes my excitement can get the best of me and my youthful Semblance gets out of control."

"That was so AWESOME," Naruto exclaimed. "With you training me, not even Kiba can beat me and he'll be training with his mom!"

"That's the spirit, Naruto," Guy shouted, his fists clenching in pride. "Hiruzen and I will work out a training schedule and once we believe we have come up with the best one possible, we'll begin your training."

After the first day of training, Naruto was sore all over, but he just couldn't stop smiling. He thoroughly enjoyed Guy's training. While he did admit that the man was eccentric with his training, often asking for ridiculous amounts of laps, pushups, sit-ups, and stretching, Naruto knew that it was a way to push himself further and he tried his hardest with each day, pushing himself beyond the limits imposed on him by his youth. While he wasn't a big fan of books, Hiruzen had found a way to get him to enjoy reading, turning historical events into some kind of action adventure story that he could understand and enjoyed and even got him to go to the library to find books to read.

The problem came when Guy tried to teach Naruto his signature fighting style known as the Strong Fist. While Naruto took to it easily enough, it was obvious that the style simply didn't suit him.

His body developed to be an inch taller than his friends, who he occasionally hung out with. He and Kiba had gotten into a couple of harmless scraps with Naruto coming out on top every time. Naruto and Kiba had developed a rivalry with one another, but it wasn't the bad kind of rivalry. It was a rivalry between best friends, the kind that reinforces their bonds rather than break them.

Guy was perplexed at the development of Naruto's fighting style and wasn't sure what more to do until he found saw a video of a young man training to be a professional boxer. The agility and strength the man had astonished him and gave Guy an idea. So, he began to show Naruto a few of the techniques and the problem was solved. Naruto mixed his brawler instincts, his physical conditioning from learning a few techniques from Guy's Strong Fist style, and his new stance and techniques from learning Boxing and developed an unusual, but effective style that was unique to Naruto. It was unpredictable and when Naruto began to practice using his pistols in combination with his fighting style, it was hard to tell what he was going to do next: punch you or shoot you.

Once his training was done after Naruto turned 12 and Naruto had a good grasp on his fighting style, Guy had left, but not before giving Naruto his contact information. The training had awakened Naruto's aura, but they were still largely unsure what his Semblance was. Naruto's personality had shifted slightly, but nothing drastic. He had become more calm and even tempered after Hiruzen convinced him to take up meditation. He still got agitated when someone called him Mutt, but he was able to maintain his temper rather than lash out like he was sometimes tempted to do.

Naruto now stood around 5' 6'' and had a lithe frame stacked with compact muscles. He had outgrown his training weapon and was ready to build his first weapon. Hiruzen had opted to stay home. His age was catching up to him the past six years and he couldn't walk around as often as he used to.

Naruto knocked on the door of the Higurashi Armory shop and was greeted by Thanos' smiling face. Naruto placed the worn out Knuckle Dusters in his hands and followed him to the forge.

"I've been waiting for this day," he said as the smell of steel, titanium, and fire that he had missed since his first day in the forge. He sat down at the table where various tools were lined up. He took a deep breath and released it. Designs for his new weapons flooded his mind before settling on one.

"So, let's build the pistols first," Thanos remarked. "What caliber do you want to use?"

"Maybe a .45 ACP," Naruto replied. "It has stopping power. Let's use a 3.5 inch barrel." Thanos nodded. The smaller the barrel, the easier it was to hide and the less bulky his Knuckle Dusters would need to be to conceal the barrel length.

It was also decided that they both use pivot-style triggers rather than the straight pull triggers used in more common firearms. One had target sights on it while the other had combat sights. Naruto wanted to reduce the recoil and counter the muzzle flip that .45 ACP rounds usually had and Thanos suggested a ported muzzle compensator to take care of the problem. The barrels extended through the compensators and were ported to match.

Due to the fact that Naruto was going to be actively using them as a melee weapon, the slides had to be thickened and reinforced around the slide travel rails, the chamber, and the firing mechanism to withstand the heavy use it was going to see in combat. Special rails had been bolted to the forward portion of both frames with the intent of keeping the compensators in place.

When picking out the magazine, Naruto had chosen a double stack magazine with slam pads for quick and easy reloads and for more rounds before he had to reload. The pistol with the target sight had a hooked, two-handed trigger guard and the ejection port on the left side while the other one had a more standard trigger guard and the ejection port on the right side, allowing spent cartridges to fly away from him. Last, but not least, they added an outside extractor to both guns as well as an ergonomic wood grip.

Once the last screw had been tightened and the weapon had been loaded, they headed out back to practice with a few shots. He held them in his hands and aimed them before pulling the triggers. The one in his left was a precise and comfortable in his hands. The one in his left was more rapid fire and quick to draw from the holster on his hip. Once the gunsmoke settled, the wooden dummy was full of dents and holes where the bullets had struck. He returned the guns to the holsters on his hip and smirked. The recoil was notably dampened from what he had experienced as a kid and the muzzle had never budged with every trigger pull.

"Beautiful," he said, releasing the breath he had unconsciously been holding.

Thanos let out a whistle. "Just add a bit of Dust to those rounds instead of gunpowder and you've got yourself one hell of a weapon, kid."

Naruto nodded in understanding. He was going to purchase a reloading kit in the future, he told himself. It wasn't long before Thanos helped him create a quick change mechanism that would allow his handguns to transform into a pair of bladeless Knuckle Dusters with sharp, tooth-like knuckles and a retractable 5 inch long curved blade. With his thanks to the smith, he proceeded to head back home to his grandpa's house.

"Hey, Gramps," Naruto called. "I'm back!"

"Welcome home, Naruto," called a weaker voice from the living room. Naruto walked in and saw Hiruzen smoking his pipe and watching TV.

"What are you watching, Gramps," Naruto asked curiously.

"Well, earlier there was this strange show about a ninja kid obsessed with becoming the leader of his village so he can get their respect," Hiruzen stated, causing Naruto to scoff.

"The things these network executives think of these days," Naruto said with a chuckle. "And now?"

"Well, a commercial is on," Hiruzen stated with a smirk. "Apparently, Mystral is having a tournament next week. Open sign ups and you don't need to be enrolled in a Combat School to enter."

Naruto raised an eyebrow and sat down beside his grandfather. As he looked on over images of other contestants who won last year and would be fighting this year. Rubbing his chin, it was very tempting.

Hiruzen lifted his hand and flashed him a piece of paper. It was the entry form for the Mystral Regional Tournament! His eyes widened as he took the page from his grandpa.

"You can't be serious," he said in shock. "Who's gonna take care of you while I'm gone?"

"Naruto," he said weakly. "I'm 87 years old. I was young once too. This tournament is an excellent way to test your skills by fighting strong opponents and make new friends. You can't do that staying in town and taking care of me." Hiruzen stood up and grabbed his cane before walking into the closet and pulling out a box. He gently blew the dust off of it before walking back and handing it to Naruto, sitting down beside him. "Your parents left this for you for when you came of age to join a Combat School like Signal Academy in Vale or Iron Academy here in Vacuo. Open it up."

When Naruto removed the lid to the box, the first thing that caught his eye was an open locket. On one side was his father and the other had his mother. Back when they were both young and in love. Naruto couldn't remember much about his parents since they died when he was three, but his grandpa always told him bedtime stories about them. Having an image to go with a name...it was priceless to the young boy. He quickly put that around his neck and tucked it beneath his shirt. Beneath that was a black jacket with orange flame designs locking the bottom and the sleeve openings.

His father had a white one and he guessed that he didn't want his son to be stuck in his shadow, so he changed the color of it. The last objects were three small journals. Diaries were for girls, he reminded himself. Two were filled out to the last page and the third one was blank. The names Kushina, Minato, and Naruto were written out in golden cursive writing on each of the three books, indicating who it's owner was.

"They wrote about their adventures and experiences as a Huntsman and Huntress and they were adamant that you would do the same when you came of age," Hiruzen explained. "I hear they televise the tournament every year. If you leave now, you should make it there in time to sign up."

Naruto wrapped the elderly man in a hug before darting out the door. As he neared the gates, he saw his best friend, Kiba, standing at the gate with his own paper in hand.

Naruto slowed down as the two rivals smirked at one another. "Looks like we're going to the Mistral Regional Tournament together, huh," Kiba said.

"Looks like. I don't know about you, but I've got a guy there I want to beat down," Naruto challenged.

"Same here, buddy," Kiba said smoothly. "He thinks he's top dog in town and I gotta knock him down a peg or else he'll get a big head."

"Sounds like the same guy I gotta serve a beat down to," Naruto said. "Thinks he's Oum's gift to women and Faunus alike."

"Sounds like a good looking guy, if you ask me," Kiba replied, puffing out his chest.

"Not really," Naruto said cheekily. "He's been shot down by every girl he knows."

"DUDE," Kiba cried in outrage. "Not cool!"

"I'm sure he'll look better with a few more bruises on that swollen ego of his. Maybe on his ugly mug to. Just to even things out. Maybe that will get him a date," Naruto taunted.

As the bus pulled up to bring them to the shuttle that would bring them to Mistral, the two got on followed by Kiba's white puppy, Akamaru. Just as the doors to the bus shut, they looked out the window and saw a lot of their friends and family waving to them.

Their friends made a sign that read _'Go, Kiba! Go, Naruto! Represent Konoha and Vacuo and Make It To The Finals!'_

"You better make it to the finals," Kiba/Naruto called simultaneously. "Cause we're gonna finally see which one is the better Huntsman."


	3. Chapter 3

**Fox Huntsman of Beacon Academy**

 **Written By: Rave Rose of Twilight**

 **Warning: I don't own Naruto or RWBY.**

Chapter Three: Watch Out, Mistral Regional Tournament! Naruto Uzumaki and Kiba Inuzuka Are In The House!

The trip to the shuttle was largely uneventful for the two Faunus friends. Naruto was wearing a burnt orange shirt underneath his new jacket, black cargo pants, black combat boots, and his beret. Kiba was wearing a black hoodie over his white tank top, brown pants, combat boots like his best friend, and Akamaru sitting atop his head under the hood. Naruto's weapons were tucked away in his pants pockets, his hands settled on them in case he needed to use them early. Naruto looked over to Kiba, knowing he was ready for a scrap, but he couldn't see his weapon or weapons.

To be honest, he would have been surprised if Kiba just flashed his weapons to him so he could brag about them.

Being away from Konoha was a little unnerving, but also exhilarating. As the shuttle came to a slow stop, the exited the vehicle, along with every other kid trying to get into the Mistral Regional Tournament, and looked ahead of them. The shuttle had taken them to a massive skyport where numerous Airships were waiting for them to board. Kiba swallowed and his eyes were wide in panic. Naruto winced, feeling sorry for his friend. Having a fear of heights was something many people pitied others for having and he just now found out his best buddy was suffering from an attack brought on by the docked ships.

"Come on, Kiba," Naruto whispered. "We've got to get to this Tournament."

"Ye...yeah," Kiba said in mild panic. "Let's just get on this flying, metal deathtrap."

In the end, Naruto had been forced to push his friend on board before punching him hard in the stomach, knocking him out for the duration of the flight...he hoped.

"Passengers, this is your captain speaking," called a voice over the intercom. "As you know, this is a trip directly to Mistral for the Tournament. The flight will be around five hours from Vale to Mistral. Please find your places and enjoy the ride."

Naruto sighed before pulling out a book he got from the bookstore at the skyport's shopping center. The title caught him, what could he say? Tale of the Utterly Gutsy Huntsman. How could he resist? He laid his knocked out buddy on a seat as Akamaru climbed into his lap and began reading the book with him.

The tale was riveting. The main character was a Faunus named Nagato who grew up in a village that abhorred his existence, but he was going to prove to them that he would protect them with his life by becoming a Huntsman.

What genuinely surprised him was that it was written by the same man who wrote those trashy Ninja of Love books. The fact that he found it in the bargain bin for less than 5 Lien was an even bigger shock.

As a Faunus himself, it was an inspirational book. One he would gladly suggest to any who inquired about it.

"We are approaching Mistral Skyport," called the captain. "If all passengers could gather their belongings and prepare to disembark, we thank you for choosing Mistral as your choice in destination."

Naruto tucked the book away with a reminder to read more later. The first few chapters were really good and he wanted to know what Nagato was going to do after being teamed up with his big crush during his Academy years.

He looked at the white puppy with a smile. "Go wake up, Kibble, would you, Akamaru," he asked the pup. The dog barked, his tongue lolling out of his mouth as a grin lit up its face before it trounced over to Kiba and began to lick his face wildly, causing the boy to try and push him off unsuccessfully.

"I'm awake, Akamaru," he shouted to his dog. "Geez. I'm awake, boy. Settle down!" The dog hopped off of his master's lap and joined Naruto, who was giving him a grin like he had just pulled a prank. Kiba rubbed his stomach, which he was sure would have bruised him if he hadn't already activated his aura and Semblance training with his mother. He glared at his friend. "You are not allowed to do that again."

Naruto shrugged his shoulders. "It was either that or have you go into a panic attack whenever the Airship got rocked by turbulence. Which was not often, if you want to know," he said. "I'm sure that everyone else on board is already anxious about fighting in the Tournament. We don't need to start a fight by having you start panicking because of your fear of heights."

As soon as they landed, Kiba was the first one off the Airship and began kissing the ground. Naruto just shook his head. "Come on, Kiba," Naruto called. "The shuttles won't wait for you to finish kissing the ground."

"Shut up," Kiba cried. "You have no idea what it's like to be stuck in a flying metal deathtrap with only the hope that you don't just fall out of the sky!"

"For the love of...you were stuck on a roller coaster," Naruto shouted. "Not even five feet off the ground! I was right there with you and I didn't panic, but you just started crying like it was the end of the world!"

Kiba just glared at his friend before walking off, Naruto following right behind him, muttering about drama queens the whole way to the shuttle. Before long, several shuttles were waiting at the front of a massive arena with numerous people waiting at the lines that were arranged to deal with multiple applicants at once. Kiba and Akamaru were in one line while Naruto was in a line four spaces away.

"Hello," called a distinctly female voice behind the blond Faunus. He turned around...and found himself at a loss for words. The girl behind him had long red hair and wore bronze armor with some slight orange highlights and a bronze circlet that adorned her forehead. She was absolutely stunning.

Naruto shook his head and scratched the back of his head, a nervous tick he had a habit of doing. "Sorry," he said sheepishly. "I didn't mean to stare. I'm not exactly from Mistral."

The girl blushed a bit, but maintained a professional demeanor. "It's alright," she mentioned, waving off his zoning out. "Where are you from, if you don't mind me asking?"

Naruto grinned, his confidence back and his embarrassment squashed rather viciously. "I'm from Konoha, a small village in Vacuo. Me and my buddy, Kiba, came here together. We've both been training hard for the last six years and now we can get to see the fruits of our labor by fighting against some of the strongest people in Remnant!"

"Have you joined a Combat School yet," she asked curiously, causing Naruto to shake his head negative.

"Not yet, but that's mostly because I want to see how strong I've gotten first before I consider applying to any Combat School. What about you?"

She grinned a bit sheepishly herself. "I'm actually in the same boat as you are. I want to find out how strong I've gotten since I started my training before I consider joining any Combat School," she replied. Suddenly, something seemed to strike her, causing her to flush. "Where are my manners. I haven't even introduced myself yet. Pyrrha Nikos."

"And I'm Naruto Uzumaki," he replied, looking just as sheepish. His grandpa would have cuffed him good for not introducing himself. "It's nice to meet a fellow competitor."

"Same here," she replied.

The lines moved along quickly and Naruto, Pyrrha, and Kiba had managed to get their applications through and were shuffled away into the arena where many applicants who applied were waiting to be informed about the Tournament. Standing atop a platform high above the competitors.

"Welcome, contestants," called a wealthy-rete e man. He wore an expensive gray suit with golden jewelry wherever he could put it to avoid looking cheap. "Congratulations are in order. There are far more applicants than we expected to get. While this is a good thing, it also means that the tournament will be held over the span of an entire week. Starting tomorrow, we'll be randomly calling up contestants via a digital board to compete. The first one to either drain their opponent of their aura, knockout their opponent, or force them to submit will be the victor. Today, each of you will proceed to take a mandatory physical where you will ingest a small, microscopic machine that can determine how much damage your aura takes over the period of a fight. Naturally, once your fight is over, your aura will begin to replenish itself and you won't register as a contestant until your aura is back to 100% so that everything is fair."

"We will also pay for your room and up to 500 Lien in room service each day. Any more and you will be forced to pay the remaining balance or be kicked out of the tournament," he mentioned. "Now, since some of you haven't applied to a Combat School, we do have scouts from notable academies attending who have been given profiles on those of you who are not applied to a Combat School."

This got many of the younger contestants to sigh in relief. "At the end of the tournament, a winner will be crowned and given a grand prize while those who came in second and third will be given prizes of slightly lesser value."

Naruto rolled his eyes as the man proceeded to explain that all Dust and ammunition was paid for by the Tournament officials courtesy of the Schnee Dust Quarry. How they could not be held responsible for people hurting themselves using Dust in inadvisable ways. Basic stuff that can be read in any copy of Dust for Dummies or the ever popular Huntsman/Huntress Training for Dummies.

Thankfully, Kiba wasn't faring much better. His eyes were blank and, if Naruto's hearing was correct, the poor Dog Faunus was asleep on his feet. He would have laughed if he wasn't so sure that more than a few would take offense to it.

Who the hell was he kidding. He'd laugh anyway. Screw those idiots. As Naruto bust a gut laughing, as expected, several older contestants gave him looks that would make any other kid his age cringe. "If you losers want a piece of me, feel free to try your luck. I'll make sure the hospital has a special room with your names on it," he shouted, a challenging, excited look shining through his eyes and unnerving several people glaring at him.

"Yeah," cried another female in the crowd. "Let's get to the part where we break some legs!" Though Naruto couldn't see the owner of the voice, he wanted to place an arm around her shoulder and get to know her better. Not only did she sound fun, but pretty cute too.

The wealthy man laughed as if hearing a joke. "We'll get to the fights tomorrow," he said calmly. "Today, you will be escorted to one of many hotels where you will stay for the duration of your victories. Take this as an opportunity to get to know your competition. Make friends. Mingle. But most of all, have fun. When you get to the front desk, you will be provided with a Scroll, free of charge, and it is yours to keep regardless of how long your stay in the Tournament lasts. When it is your turn for your physical, you will be called on your Scroll, head down to the transportation provided, and you will be run through various tests and sent back once your tests are finished and you swallow the microscopic machine."

"With everything said and done, you are dismissed," he called before leaving the arena.

Naruto nudged Kiba with his elbow, who snorted and shook himself awake. "Wake up, Sleeping Beauty," Naruto said mockingly to his friend.

"Huh," he asked as he watched numerous others leave the arena. "What's going on?"

"We're going to the shuttles that are taking us to our hotels. When we get there, the Tournament officials are going to provide us with Scrolls. When we get a call, we head down and do some stupid tests then get sent back. There are going to be scouts from all of the primary Combat Schools attending and the fighting won't start until tomorrow."

"Aw man," Kiba groaned in annoyance before looking back to Naruto. "Were there any cute girls here?"

Naruto rolled his eyes, his mind coming to that Pyrrha girl he met in line, before shaking it off. "It was too crowded and I'm not exactly the kind of guy who ogles every cute girl that walks in front of me."

"What kind of a wingman are you," Kiba asked as he rolled his eyes.

"The kind who laughs in your face when you flirt with a woman and get slapped," Naruto said flatly.

"Why are we friends," Kiba asked.

"I think it has something to do with how your sister loved spending time with me and we just naturally started hanging out," Naruto replied nonchalantly.

Kiba groaned. When his older sister, Hana, had seen a young Naruto, she thought he was the cutest little boy in the world and brought him home to play with. When Kiba and Naruto met, they were virtually inseparable for the next year and had been best friends since then.

Kiba was the flirtatious one that sometimes came off as a horn dog when he began to notice girls when he turned 10. Naruto was the good-looking kid dedicated to training. Since his first crush had changed so drastically, Naruto had decided that he wasn't quite ready for a relationship and that he would use his time to dedicate himself to his training and future career as a Huntsman. While that did not mean he wouldn't flirt every once in awhile, he would prefer to make new friends and grow up before entering into a dating relationship. This made their dynamic together entertaining for their friends back home.

"And she still refuses to shut up about how much cuter you were than me," he said with another groan before grabbing Naruto by the collar and shaking him. "What is it about you that girls find so dang attractive?! Tell me your secrets!"

"What can I say," he said cheekily with a smirk. "It must be my animal magnetism. Now let go and let's get to the shuttle before we get left behind, Kiba."

Luckily, they made it in time to get the last shuttle and boarded quickly before it took off down the road. Naruto had found an empty row of seats and the two sat down. Naruto had opened his book again while Kiba was eyeing almost every girl on the shuttle.

"Dude," Kiba said in awe. "Just look at all of these beauties. If there are even half as many on the other shuttles, there's no way I'll walk away from this Tournament without a girlfriend or three. I bet we can even find a girlfriend for your workaholic butt."

Naruto leveled his friend with a neutral glare. "One: I'm not a workaholic. I just like to train. Two: I'm not looking for a girlfriend yet. I want to work on my career first and foremost before considering starting a relationship. Lastly: Stop trying to find a girlfriend either for you or me. Especially among women armed with weapons who have likely been training to be Huntresses longer than we have trained to be Huntsmen."

Many of the women in the shuttle nodded in agreement with Naruto's point and respected his desire to stay single until he was comfortable in his career to start dating.

Once everyone had gotten to their respective hotels, they approached the reception desk and got their room keys and their Scrolls. Kiba had decided to hang around and try and get contact info from a few of the ladies while Naruto decided to head to his room and get set up before mingling with the other contestants.

He looked down at his key card for the room number. 432. Wow. 9. His lucky number. 4th floor it is. He hit the button on the elevator and entered once one of the two doors opened. Just as the doors were shutting, he spotted two people around his age running toward the elevator.

"Hold those doors," called the girl while her male friend looked ready to collapse at a moment's notice.

He pressed the button and the doors swing back open, allowing the two to enter.

"What floor," he asked.

The two pulled out their key cards and looked. "4th," they said together.

"Cool," he said with a smile. "Same here." As the doors close, Naruto gets a chance to observe the two competitors.

The girl had orange hair and bright turquoise eyed. She wore a collared black vest that ended at her waist. Her symbol, a hammer with a lightning bolt, was easily seen on the back. Under the vest were two layers of clothing, colored red and light-blue respectively.

She also wore a white sleeveless top that formed a tiny heart shape between her cleavage, which was rather large for her apparent age, and collarbone, with a white detached sleeve on each arm. She wore matching fingerless gloves on each hand. She sported a pink skirt that started at the waist and ended mid-thigh. Her shoes were a mix of pink and white with pink laces, displaying her symbol on their soles.

She also seemed to wear some sort of armor that began in the middle of the shoulder and neck and ended by the waist. It seemed she has a light-gray or off-white bow at the back of her skirt, with ribbon extending to the skirt's bottom.

The guy had a long black ponytail that ended halfway down his back with a magenta streak on the left side of his hair and magenta wore a dark green, diagonally-buttoned, long-sleeved tailcoat that is red on the inside, with black and gold trimming and pink cuffs. The trimming went down the right side of his torso and forms a black also wore a black, long-sleeved shirt beneath the suit, and light-tan pants with black shoes.

"My name's Naruto. Naruto Uzumaki," he said with a friendly grin.

The energetic girl decided to speak up. "My name's Nora Valkyrie and this is my best friend in the world, Lie Ren," she said, darting around from place to place in the small elevator. "I can't wait to break some legs!"

"Ha," Naruto laughed mirthfully. "So that was you who said that in the arena! Man! I knew you'd be cute, but I had no idea you'd be this awesome! I can't wait to get into a good scrap! I can't really let loose back home because people would tend to hold back fighting a friend, but here? Here people will give it everything they have if they want to win! Nobody holds back! This is why I wanted to come here! To find out how strong I've gotten in the last six years. Once I've found out how strong I've gotten, I'll look to join a good Combat School and hopefully make it to Beacon Academy."

"Sounds like a blast," Nora said. "Do you like pancakes? I love pancakes! Especially with lots of syrup! Ren makes the best pancakes ever!"

"Um," Naruto said, a bit put off by her energy, but knew that he could be pretty excitable too. "My grandpa makes pancakes sometimes. Usually mixes in bananas to them. They're pretty good."

Nora cocked her head to the side, as if contemplating banana pancakes before looking over to her friend. "You're going to make me banana pancakes tomorrow," Nora said, leaving no room for argument. Ren just nodded weakly, knowing it was best to agree with his best friend.

"You know, you two seem like really cool people," Naruto said, pulling out his Scroll. "Let's exchange our contact info. That way, we can stay in touch after the tourney."

Nora nodded eagerly and exchanged information with Naruto, Ren following her example shortly after. "This is going to be so much fun! There are already so many strong people to fight! I can't wait!"

The elevator door opened and the trio parted ways down opposite halls.

As Naruto counted the door numbers, he was unaware that another person was coming down the hall until the two collided. Naruto fell forward and his hands shot out to stop his fall. When he felt his hands grasp onto the shoulders of another person, he spun them around, closed his eyes, and waited for the impact to come. When he felt his back come in contact with the ground, he groaned, but the pain faded away quickly. As he opened his eyes, the azure blue orbs came into contact with a pair of familiar vivid green eyes.

His breath hitched in his throat and his heart skipped a beat. The two were frozen in place for several minutes. Just staring into the eyes of the other before they quickly separated from one another.

"Sorry," the two said simultaneously, causing them to blush and look away from one another.

"I was so busy looking for my room, I guess I wasn't paying attention to where I was walking," Naruto admitted, still refusing to meet the redhead's gaze.

"Same here," she said sheepishly, her own eyes unable to bring themselves to meet his gaze lest she fall into a stuttering mess.

"What's your room number," Naruto asked curiously.

"433," she admitted. "You?"

"Uh...432," he admitted with a blush, an action that she mimicked upon realizing that they would be living across the hall from one another.

This was going to be awkward.

"You know," Naruto started.

"I was thinking," Pyrrha started at the same time as Naruto was about to speak.

"Let's exchange contact information," they stated together. Naruto smiled and handed his Scroll to Pyrrha, who did the same with him. As they entered their contact info, they handed their Scrolls back to their rightful owner. Once they were happy, they each slipped into their respective rooms where their bags were sitting by their beds.

Naruto fell with his back against the door before pulling out his locket and opening it up to the picture of his mom and dad. She was a natural beauty with crimson hair and violet eyes.

Pyrrha looked a lot like her, just judging by the few pictures he had of her. He began to wonder if this was how his dad felt when he first met the his mother before shaking the feeling off. Pyrrha was a cool person and he wouldn't mind getting to know her a bit better, but he was sticking to his guns. He knew she would be an awesome friend to have and she was really cute, though not in the same way as Nora.

Without warning, his Scroll began to ring. He pressed a button and a nurse with long blond hair and violet eyes was on screen. "Mister Uzumaki," she asked, getting a nod from Naruto. "It is your turn to take the physical exam. Please go down to the main floor and enter the vehicle waiting for you."

Naruto hung up and did as he was asked. Upon reaching the entrance, he was met by a black SUV with two men wearing black suits, white buttoned down shirts, and red ties. As he got into the vehicle, he had a gut feeling something was off. The van drove off and wove through city streets before leaving the city entirely. After several minutes of driving, the van pulled over in an empty lot. Once the three were out, the two older men pulled out their weapons and aimed them at Naruto, who casually stuck his hands in his pockets, secretly putting on his weapon, Sunset Breaker.

"This is the end of the line for you, kid," one of the thugs said. "Don't take it personally, but the boss doesn't want any animals in the Tournament."

Naruto sighed in morbid dissatisfaction. "I suppose I can't blame you," he replied. "Hope you can't blame me for what's about to happen either."

"Wha…"

Before the second thug could ask his question, Naruto had closed the distance between them and landed a powerful right hook to his face, the jagged knuckles digging into his aura before breaking through and sending the idiot flying, crashing into the black van.

The first thug started to fire off automatic rounds at the blond Fox Faunus, but his target simply continued to move. As Naruto drew closer, he knew it was going to be a close quarters fight and changed his weapon into a sword.

Punch for slash, blows were exchanged between the two, but it was becoming obvious that Naruto was a stamina monster as well as a beast in close combat.

It soon became apparent when Naruto had landed a blow after avoiding a zealous, overextended slash meant to decapitate him. The man doubled over in pain as the hidden weapon dug into his abdomen. His grip on his weapon failed and it fell from his grasp. Just as he reached for it, he heard the click of a gun being cocked and cold steel was pressed against his temple.

"Now let's not do anything stupid, okay," Naruto said calmly. "After all, I'm pretty sure your friend over there will be pretty jacked up for the rest of his life. Don't make me do the same to you." Just as Naruto was about to call the police, he got a call from the nurse who initially called him.

"Mister Uzumaki, where are you," she asked. "The car has been waiting for your arrival for the last fifteen minutes."

Naruto turned the Scroll toward the man who he held at gunpoint, then to his partner before returning it to himself. "These two idiots were hired to get rid of any Faunus competitors in the Tournament," he replied. "If you would be so kind as to call the police to my Scrolls location…"

"Watch out," she called, but it was unneeded. Naruto spun around, keeping one gun trained on the thug under his boot and shot the other in both kneecaps, causing him to drop his weapon helplessly and cry out in pain.

"It would be much appreciated," he finished. "You may want to call an ambulance too for the guy I just shot."

"Already on it, Mister Uzumaki," she replied. "They should be there momentarily."

"Don't worry," Naruto said with a smirk. "I'm sure Moron #2 isn't so stupid to do what his friend just did anymore."

Within moments, an ambulance, a police vehicle, and the Tournament's company car had arrived on the scene. Once his witness statement had been taken and the two thugs arrested and carted off to a hospital, Naruto was approached by the nurse who had contacted him and an official from the Mistral Regional Tournament Committee.

"I must say," the official stated. "You handled yourself rather well. How did you catch them off guard so easily?"

"Sunset Breaker, my weapon, was designed to be concealed easily," he mentioned. "If not for that, they might have been able to hurt me before I could draw my weapon. After all, big things can come in small packages."

The official chuckled merrily, having caught the joke at the young Faunus' short stature and the nature of his weapon. "Quite right," he said. "I hope that you do not hold this incident against us or the Tournament."

Naruto shook his head negative. "I understand," he replied. "Such an action by anyone on the Committee would tarnish not only Mistral, but could insure that the Mistral Regional Tournament would take a severe hit to its reputation that would take quite some time to recover from. Have there been any other reported incidents such as Faunus dropping out or disappearing mysteriously?"

The official shook his head. "Thankfully, there hasn't. It is entirely likely that you were the first intended victim and, depending on whether they succeeded or failed, another course of action against the Faunus competitors might follow suit."

"I would suggest an increase in security," Naruto mentioned. "Also, you may want to inform the other competitors. Don't say it is targeting only Faunus. Make it sound like someone is targeting their competition. That way, they will be on guard and keep an eye out for anything out of the ordinary."

The official nodded slowly, but it quickly picked up in pace. "Yes. That's a wonderful plan. How did you come up with it?"

"My grandfather is the leader of the village I come from," Naruto said. "He was one of the people who encouraged me to pull pranks and used them as ways to teach me strategy."

"A brilliant man, if ever I'd heard of one," the official said emphatically. He coughed into his hand slightly before his attention was back on Naruto. "Anyway, Miss Kali D. Scope will take you to the hospital and have your tests done. We proceeded to have the other competitor's physicals while you dealt with these ruffians so things did not seem off. I'll head back to my office and the Committee will gather early tomorrow before the Tournament begins to discuss tonight's events and we will inform the other contestants after the first day of battles is over."

Once everyone had left the scene, a strange feminine figure appeared in the shadows. She held a device to her ear as her fiery eyes looked toward the convoy before it disappeared. "It looks like the plan is going to change," she said flatly. "I told you that we shouldn't have left those two idiots to do the job. Now everyone is going to be on alert." She paused slightly. "Understood, but if your plan fails, it will be on your head."

 **Author's Note: I really hope you like this chapter. I meant to update it shortly after the last update, but work got in the way. Anyway, I have some good news. I have a short list of Semblances. Vote for your favorite one via review. I won't count any that are PMed to me unless they were reviewed by the same author. I will count reviews by guests.**

 **These are your choices:**

 **Conversion/Absorption (Suggested By: ARSLOTHES): Naruto is able to absorb Dust into his Aura, granting his Aura elemental abilities in conjunction with the element of Dust he absorbs. The duration of his elemental empowerment is based on how much Dust he absorbs. Each element also provides certain boosts to his body. However, the downside is that his body and Aura can only handle so much Dust. Once he hits his limit, his body will feel extreme amounts of pain as the Dust courses through his body. He will be able to swap elements, but only after his current element wears off. This also translates to his weapons. He will be able to empower his attacks with the element as well. Whether he is using his guns or his trench knives.**

 **Elemental Affinity: I've had a lot of people asking for an elemental affinity, but the one I won't use will be wind. It's too overused in Naruto stories already. I will consider a vote for each individual element as just that. One vote per element rather than group them under the Elemental Affinity option. Pros: Can fight using the elements around him. Cons: He will be limited to the range of his elemental manipulation to understandable degrees. He cannot make a tower of earth that hits an enemy flying fifty+ feet in the air. I will allow him to launch projectile attacks, but I don't want to overpower him.**

 **Clones: Okay. Let's face it. This wouldn't be a complete Naruto fiction without giving him the option of having self-aware clones capable of transferring information to the original when they 'die'. These clones have up to half of the full ability Naruto possesses with all of his skills. His clones can only use copies of his weapon and only in their Knuckle Duster form. The bad part of this Semblance is that it consumes a lot of Aura. At least half for a single clone, but that clone will be incredibly durable or he can use a little for a small group and have them be incredibly fragile.**

 **The Mistral Regional Tournament will take up many chapters, but once it is over and Naruto and Kiba head back to Konoha, he will be put in a situation that will force him to awaken his Semblance. No spoilers though. I want you to be surprised. Now, I will consider other Semblances and if I like the idea, in the following update, I will give that option and credit the one who supplied it as I have done in this one. If multiple people suggest it, I may or may not give credit, but know that I do appreciate your suggestions.**


	4. Preliminary Rounds Part 1

**Fox Huntsman of Beacon Academy**

 **Written By: Rave Rose of Twilight**

 **Warning: I don't own Naruto or RWBY.**

Chapter Four: Preliminary Rounds:A Test of Skill...and Recruitment Opportunity

After Naruto had gotten his tests done, he was escorted back to the hotel where his friends were waiting for him. Akamaru was the first one to run up to him, landing in Naruto's arms and licking his face repeatedly. Behind him was Kiba, who was looking betrayed by his puppy partner.

"How'd everything go, Naruto," Kiba asked as Naruto removed the pup from his face.

Naruto grew slightly serious. "I'll tell you later. Needless to say, it could have gone smoother."

Kiba grinned mockingly. "What's wrong," he asked. "Did they pull a needle out on you?"

Naruto paled slightly before jabbing Kiba in the arm, causing the Dog Faunus to wince. Short he might be, but his punches hurt.

"Shut up, Kibble," Naruto shouted as his cheeks flushed red in embarrassment. "And that wasn't the problem. I'll tell you later when there aren't so many people around."

Kiba nodded weakly before his scroll rang, letting him know that it was his turn to get his physical done. As time went on, the rest of the contestants were called in to do their physical. When Kiba got back, he went to Naruto's room and the pair sat down while Naruto explained what happened when he was called.

Kiba snorted when Naruto told him that he turned the tables on the pair of thugs, even going as far as to kneecap one while the other was being held at gunpoint. But news that a racist had begun to target Faunus competitors was worrying.

He snarled at the thought of some racist trying to keep Faunus from competing in the tournament. It infuriated him to no end. They had already dealt with racism at home. For a moment, he actually thought it would be different.

"So what do we do," Kiba asked his best friend.

"For now, we play it cool," Naruto answered. "When someone makes their move, then we can act, but not until then."

Kiba nodded. It was a good plan, but he really wanted to get a piece of the racist that tried, and failed, to kidnap and murder his friend. The Dog Faunus looked up at the clock and yawned a bit. "I guess I'll hit the sack tonight. Maybe do some light sparring for the competition tomorrow."

Naruto smirked at his buddy. "Yeah. Nobody wants to see you scrap if you haven't had your beauty sleep."

Kiba sifted a hand through his wild mane. "I'll have you know that my brand of sexy takes hours to achieve. Just be glad that you have me to take the attention of all the babes off of you."

Naruto rolled his eyes as Kiba and Akamaru left his room before tucking into the bed and falling asleep himself.

The next morning, everyone was gathered at the stadium. As expected, the Tournament official announced that someone had attempted to eliminate some of the competition by having someone kidnapped, but was unsuccessful and the thugs were arrested pending an investigation. However, due to the nature of the investigation, it was determined that the elimination bracket would be pushed back and a Round Robin style would be held to determine their placement in the brackets. Each person would fight 5 different fighters and based on how each person did, who they beat and who they lost to would determine their standing in the brackets. However, to discourage people trying to cheat the system, a panel of judges would be watching the matches and anyone caught pulling their punches or taking a fall would be automatically eliminated from the tournament entirely. Due to the enormous amount of competitors, this would not hamper the tournament in any way, shape, or form and have only the best fighters attend.

"Now that the rules have been announced, I will call out two names. Those two fighters will step into the arena and everyone will be in the stands as onlookers," he called. The board in front of him spun until it stopped at two names. "Naruto Uzumaki and Adam Taurus. Please stay in the arena. Everyone else, take your seats in the stands."

Naruto stood on one side of the arena while his opponent stood at the other.

On his back was a black sheath that looked like it belonged to a sword. He was a tall man with red hair that spikes backwards in a windswept way. While most of his hair is red, a portion of it in the back looked slightly brown. He had two horn on either side of his head, signifying that he was a Faunus. Adam wore a long-sleeved black trench coat with slit sleeves and more red designs and a white symbol on the left side. His trench coat was red on the inside with red flame-like accents at the bottom and a large emblem on the back, with a white tulip design covered by a red rose design. He also wore long black pants and black shoes that were red on the bottom, and black gloves with more red emblems on their forehand, appearing to be a variant of the Greek letter Omega, the last letter in the Greek alphabet. He wore a pair of sunglasses that were so dark, you couldn't even see what color his eyes were.

The smirk that played on his face grated on Naruto's nerves. It was arrogance, plain and simple. That kind of face always got on his nerves because it reminded him so much of that racist prick, Sasuke Uchiha, back in Konoha.

"First time in the big leagues, kid," he asked with that damnable smirk.

Naruto felt his eye twitch as he dug into his pockets and slipped on Sunset Breaker before settling into a stance.

"I don't even know you, but that smirk is really ticking me off," Naruto said flatly.

"Then do something about it," the Bull Faunus taunted, but Naruto refused to take the bait. "Alright. I guess I'll kick things off!" With that said, he crouched low and shot toward Naruto like a rocket, but Naruto had been training with arguably the fastest human alive. He saw Adam draw his sword, which was a Chokūto-class sword, and was crossing Sunset Breaker to block the blow. When the sword struck against his knuckles, Naruto found himself being pushed back as the slash continued on through instead of being caught on the tooth-like knuckles like he expected. Adam stopped moving and stood up, watching Naruto continue to be shoved back by the force of his initial attack before he surprised him, digging his daggers into the ground to slow him down and, upon stopping, used it to launch himself toward Adam. Using his smaller frame, he quickly found himself in his opponent's guard and began to throw fast, untrackable jabs and kicks, but Adam used his sheath, which now looked like a rifle than a simple sheath, to block or counter his near misses. Adam finally caught an opening and kicked Naruto away from him.

"Not bad, kid," he said, genuinely impressed with Naruto's currently skills and instincts. "You have a talent, that's for sure, but you still have a way to go before you can take me on."

Naruto was breathing hard and looked up at the board that showed how their auras were faring. His eyes widened when he saw that Adam had barely dented his aura with his attacks, but the few that his opponent landed on him had brought him down to almost thirty percent.

"If it makes you feel better, you did a lot better than I expected for someone who hasn't activated their Semblance yet," Adam said, surprising many who were watching.

Naruto himself was stunned by what Adam said. "How did you…"

"It's easy to tell just by how your aura fluctuated with every time you attacked. I could feel it through my weapons," he admitted. "If you were a few years older with a little more training, you may have been able to beat me."

"If not done yet," Naruto said, getting his breathing under control. Naruto charged Adam again. As Adam moved to use his sheath to sent Naruto tumbling back and win the match, he was surprised to see Naruto slide under him, his knuckle dusters transforming into compact pistols. His eyes widened in shock as Naruto unleashed a torrent of bullets into his jaw, slowly, but surely lifting him off the ground, but never breaking his aura. When Adam was at foot in the air, Naruto transformed his right pistol back into a knuckle duster and grit his teeth.

"I hope you're hungry 'cause you're about to eat a knuckle sandwich," Naruto shouted before delivering a vicious uppercut to Adam's unguarded jaw, sending him even higher into the sky. He jumped up, using his guns to change direction in midair as he delivered punch after punch to the airborne opponent. He hovered over Adam, Sunset Breaker back into their knuckle duster form, and raised his fists above his head. "Say goodnight," he shouted before delivering a hammer blow to Adam's aura, his daggers digging into his aura. However, he felt Adam flare his own aura upon impact. Adam flew back down to Earth with a crash. Naruto fell, rolling to avoid breaking any bones, and sat on his butt looking at what he had hoped was a knocked out opponent. However, once the dust settled, even Naruto's jaw was on the floor. Adam looked virtually unharmed from his last ditch attack with the exception of a very small wound on his cheek that quickly healed.

Adam smirked at him, knowing that he had won. The kid was good. Really good. Crafty. Sly. Just like a fox, though that wasn't too much of a shock considering he was a Fox Faunus. That plan of his came to him on the fly. It was completely unexpected. If he hadn't buffed up his aura on that last blow, he would have been hurt even worse. Not enough to cost him the win, but it definitely would have hurt.

Adam Taurus looked up to the judges. "Call the match. He won't be able to last much longer," he announced.

The judges must have agreed. "Winner of this match: Adam Taurus!"

A small group of medics came down to the field and checked up on Naruto while Adam walked calmly up to the stands.

Kiba was looking down at his best friend with wide eyes. There was no doubt that Naruto was strong. He always knew Naruto would grow up to be a strong Huntsman, but to see him handled so easily by a slightly older Faunus was unnerving and terrifying. That guy was some kind of monster, that was for sure. The medics took Naruto on a stretcher and brought him to the hospital in the arena just for safely precautions.

In the room he had been given, Naruto could see the matches going on. He wasn't badly hurt. Just some small cuts, bruises, and his bruised ego. He wanted to win so bad, but a small part of him knew that against so many experienced opponents, it was unlikely. If anything, this was as reality check for him. If all of his opponents were as strong as Adam Taurus, he wouldn't make it past the first elimination round. If there was one thing he was sure about, it was the fact that he would never forget about his first real fight against the monster known as Adam Taurus.

Still, somehow, he smiled. He lost, so...he should be feeling upset, right?

Before he knew what was happening, he saw all four of his friends come into the room. Two of them looked worried, but that faded when he gave them a reassuring smile.

"You okay, man," asked Kiba. "You got pretty smashed by that guy."

"Nothing a bit of rest and kicking your butt won't fix, Kibble," Naruto replied, causing Kiba to snort. Naruto sighed. "I guess this is just a reality check for me. This is why I initially came here. See how strong I've gotten since I started training with Guy-sensei and get stronger. I would have liked to win. Actually, I would have liked to pound that arrogant smirk off his face, but I guess he had a good reason for it. He is some kind of stupid strong."

"Absolutely," Pyrrha inserted. "It was definitely unnerving to watch him fight with such skill."

"So what do you plan on doing," Ren asked the blond.

Naruto frowned. "It everyone in the tournament is asked strong as him, none of us will last long when it comes to the elimination rounds. I really hope that isn't the case, but even if it isn't, I plan on training even harder than I have been."

"Yeah," called Nora excitedly. "And when you fight him again, you'll totally break his legs!"

Akamaru barked excitedly in agreement with the orange-haired girl.

Naruto bit his lip. He wasn't so sure about that, but he couldn't allow such negative thoughts to dwell in his heart.

After watching a few fights with Naruto, the group of friends had gone back to the arena. Naruto had requested copies of his fight along with a few other opponents who stood out in their first of five Round Robin matches. The medic came back and told him that most of his wounds had healed and he could go back to the arena, but wouldn't be eligible to fight until tomorrow's group of fights due to how slowly his aura seemed to be replenishing. As he got into a seat by Pyrrha, the next announcement came across the speakers.

"Kiba Inuzuka and Vulcan Bronzehammer. Make your way to the arena."

Kiba hopped down with Akamaru trailing close behind while a mammoth of a man with bronze armor on both arms and his left leg walked down to meet his opponent.

"Are both combatants ready," the announcer asked. Kiba nodded and Vulcan grunted heavily. "Begin!"

Kiba looked at Akamaru with a grin before his aura began to deplet quickly until it reached the halfway mark. Both Kiba and Akamaru began to glow crimson before Kiba threw down a few smoke bombs to cover the arena floor. Everyone tried to see what was going on, but the smoke was too thick for most to see. It wasn't until a huge explosion occurred that the smoke was pushed away. Vulcan had his left fist buried in the ground with parts of it having turned molten and a huge crater was in the middle of the arena. However, what really surprised many were the fact that there were two Kiba's in the arena. Both Kiba's clothes looked singed and they were sweating slightly. On both Kiba's hands was a single metallic claw attached together by a chain. One on the left hand of one Kiba while the other was attached to the right hand of the other Kiba.

Vulcan roughly pulled his fist out of the ground with ease. The arm had several bronze plates extended, revealing many hidden exhaust ports. The weapon quickly sealed itself up as Vulcan rolled his shoulders. Looking at the difference between the two combatants aura levels, Kiba had used half of his to activate his Semblance in the smoke, allowing Akamaru to transform into an exact copy of him. Even after such a risky move, his aura had somehow taken a bit of damage, likely from that explosion. Vulcan, on the other hand, had almost 100% of his aura left, having likely deflected some of the damage with his weapons. With all of that muscle, it was hard to believe he was incapable of using those arms of his as a shield and a weapon.

Vulcan shot off toward Kiba, who was surprised by the speed his massive opponent was capable of. Thankfully, he and Akamaru chose to dodge because another crater appeared when Vulcan's fist landed where he had last been.

Kiba's eyes were wide. One punch, especially at just under half of his aura remaining, would end the match.

"Why aren't you fighting back," Vulcan grunted.

"Because I like breathing," Kiba replied with some snark.

Vulcan shrugged. "If it makes you feel better, I could build you a new lung if I accidentally bust one."

"WHO SAYS SOMETHING LIKE THAT IN A FIGHT," Kiba shouted somewhat comically.

"Well, we are in a fight and one of us is bound to get hurt," he said in a nonchalant manner.

"DON'T JUST ASSUME THAT IT'S GOING TO BE ME," Kiba shouted again in outrage. His eyes seemed to shine crimson before he and Akamaru rushed in to strike at their opponent, who seemed either unconcerned of the incoming attack. Still, Vulcan raised his fists and his arms transformed again just as his fist slammed into the ground beneath them, Kiba and Akamaru began to coat their bodies in Aura and spin in sync with one another, giving the appearance of a pair of glowing drills spinning toward Vulcan at impressive speeds. The fire erupted from his arms and onto the ground before breaking it up and shooting chunks into the area and round him to act as a shield.

Vulcan's apathy turned to surprise when his opponents began to plow through the rock clusters and fire before crashing into him. The vortex around Kiba and Akamaru grew red as the fire mixed into their auras, fueling their attack even more.

Up in the stands, everyone was on the edge of their seats as they watched the vortices fly out and back into the fire and rock pillar created by Vulcan. Naruto held his breath as his eyes split between the screen showing their aura levels and the actual battle. Kiba's aura was slowly getting smaller. It was around 15% and dropping while Vulcan's was dropping with each blow and the fire surrounding them. With each hit he took, his aura dropped by 8-10% and the fire dropped it to similar levels as it was to Kiba's. Kiba and Akamaru broke off their attack and the fire seemed to withdraw. All of the fighters looked worse for the wear. Kiba and Akamaru had small burns that were healing slowly while Vulcan looks a bit bruised and scuffed up, but a few of those wounds were healing as well. Both of their aura were down to the bare minimum.

It was down to one last attack. Whoever landed theirs first, would win.

"Not bad for a squirt," Vulcan groaned. While he felt like he could keep fighting, his aura was saying something different. He would be the first to admit that he had an amazing level of control over his aura. If not for the unintentional vortex created by his opponent, keeping the flames growing hotter and hotter while reducing the amount of oxygen he could breathe, his aura would be at a much better state. His opponent...Kiba, he reminded himself, got really lucky with his last attack. Slowly, but surely, the giant of a man made his way toward the two, ready to end the fight with a single blow.

Kiba, on the other hand, looked incredibly winded and ready to fall over any second now. Akamaru was in a similar state, but had reverted to his puppy form once the last of Kiba's aura ran out of his body.

Vulcan picked Kiba up by the neck and cocked a giant fist back. "Any last words before I put you to sleep, kid?"

Kiba grinned with a haggard look to him. "Yep," he said before kicking Vulcan in the nads. Vulcan was completely unaffected by the blow since he had armor running throughout his clothes.

"Winner: Kiba Inuzuka," the announcement came, causing Vulcan's eyes to widen.

"I win," he declared before passing out.

"Bullshit," Vulcan shouted to the announcer. "I couldn't even feel him hit me!"

"Your aura meter has been reduced to zero," the announcer replied. "Regardless of whether you felt the blow or not, it still registered on your aura meter as a hit. Therefore, you lost the match."

Vulcan spat beside him in clear distaste. That was a hollow victory that nobody else in the competition would have celebrated. He was fighting the urge to punt the kid in his grasp for exploiting such a cheap, ineffective method of attack, but he reigned himself in and settled for tossing him aside like a ragdoll, sending him skipping across the ground a couple of times. The medics came out and began to place Kiba and Akamaru on a stretcher before bringing him to the hospital. One or two medics tried to help Vulcan, but it was clear that his mood was soured by his loss and they decided to let him recover on his own merit.

Naruto frowned in his seat. It was a Round Robin set of rounds to kick off the tournament. Vulcan was acting like a sore loser and Kiba didn't have the most gracious victory either with a weak kick to an armored soft spot. When they started the tournament, he expected it to be filled with contestants who respected one another enough to show good sportsmanship, regardless of whether they won or lost.

He sighed before looking up to the board where names flashed by quicker than anyone would be able to read. Hopefully, the next set of matches would be better.


End file.
